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Masterpieces By Ellington
''Masterpieces by Ellington'' is the first LP album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington, recorded for the Columbia label in 1950.A Duke Ellington Panorama accessed May 24, 2010 It was one of the earliest 12-inch LPs to take advantage of the extended time available and consisted of four tracks, three of them "concert arrangements" of Ellington standards and one, "The Tattooed Bride," a recent tone poem. Content The album features full-length versions of Ellington's classics "Mood Indigo" (1930), "Sophisticated Lady" (1933), and "Solitude" (1934). No longer constrained by the limitations of 78s, these arrangements range from 8 to 15 minutes in length. The first two feature vocals by Eve Duke, recording under the name Yvonne Lanauze, and the third includes a climactic solo by trombonist ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become Standard (music), standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan (1937 song), Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty five-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mood Indigo
"Mood Indigo" is a jazz song with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard and lyrics by Irving Mills. Composition Although Irving Mills—Jack Mills's brother and publishing partner—took credit for the lyrics, Mitchell Parish claimed in a 1987 interview that he had written the lyrics. The tune was composed for a radio broadcast in October 1930 and was originally titled "Dreamy Blues". It was "the first tune I ever wrote specially for microphone transmission", Ellington recalled. "The next day wads of mail came in raving about the new tune, so Irving Mills put a lyric to it." Renamed "Mood Indigo", it became a jazz standard. The main theme was provided by Bigard, who learned it in New Orleans, Louisiana from his clarinet teacher Lorenzo Tio, who called it a "Mexican Blues". Ellington's arrangement was first recorded by his band for Brunswick Records, Brunswick on October 17, 1930. It was recorded twice more in 1930. These recordings included Arthur Whetsel (trumpet), Trick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyree Glenn
Tyree Glenn, born William Tyree Glenn (November 23, 1912, Corsicana, Texas, United States, – May 18, 1974, Englewood, New Jersey), was an American trombone and vibraphone player. Biography Tyree played trombone and vibraphone with local Texas bands before moving in the early 1930s to Washington, D.C., where he performed with several prominent bands of the swing era. He played with Bob Young (1930), and then he joined Tommy Myles's band (1934–36). After he left Myles, he moved to the West Coast, playing with groups headed by Charlie Echols (1936). Further, he played with Eddie Barefield (1936), Eddie Mallory's band (1937) and Benny Carter (1937) and played with Cab Calloway from 1939 to 1946. He toured Europe with Don Redman's big band (1946). From 1947 to 1951, he played with Duke Ellington as a wah-wah trombonist in the style originating with Tricky Sam Nanton and Ellington's only vibraphonist, being well-featured on the '' Liberian Suite''. After, he played also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nelson Williams (trumpeter)
Nelson "Cadillac" Williams (September 26, 1917, Montgomery, Alabama – 1973, Voorburg, the Netherlands) was an American jazz trumpeter. Williams began playing piano at age 13 and settled on trumpet soon afterwards; he may have played with blues pianist/singer Cow Cow Davenport while still a teenager. In the 1930s, he played in the territory bands ''Trianon Crackerjacks'' and ''Brown Skin Models'', and acted as musical director for the Dixie Rhythm Girls. Around 1940, he left Alabama for Philadelphia, where he played with Tiny Bradshaw's band before joining the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, Billy Eckstine hired Williams, and following this he worked with John Kirby and pianist Billy Kyle. In 1949, he began the first of several stints with Duke Ellington, who bestowed upon him the nickname "Cadillac". In 1951, he left Ellington's employ and moved to Paris, where he led his own bands and recorded for French labels. He returned to Ellington in 1956, and played wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Nance
Ray Willis Nance (December 10, 1913 – January 28, 1976) was an American jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer. He is best remembered for his long association with Duke Ellington and his orchestra. Early years Nance was born in Chicago on December 10, 1913. He started playing the violin at the age of 9 and was so proficient by the time he was 14 that he enrolled at the Chicago College of Music. In high school, he taught himself trumpet because “I wanted to hear myself on a louder instrument in way I couldn't do with a violin in an orchestra.” He was the leader of his own band in Chicago from 1932 to 1937. An ad in a June 1933 prom book at the Edgewater Beach Hotel for the Staples Cafe, 6344 N. Broadway, Chicago shows "Ray Nance and His Ebony Aces." Then, he worked with Earl Hines from 1937 to 1939; and from 1939 to 1940 he worked with Horace Henderson. Ellington tenure Ellington hired Nance to replace trumpeter Cootie Williams, who had joined Benny Goodman, in 1940 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shorty Baker
Harold "Shorty" Baker (May 26, 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri, US – November 8, 1966) was an American jazz trumpeter. Baker began on drums, but switched to trumpet during his teens. He started his career on riverboats and played with Don Redman in the mid-1930s. He also worked with Teddy Wilson and Andy Kirk before joining Duke Ellington. He married Kirk's pianist Mary Lou Williams and though the two separated shortly thereafter, they never officially divorced. Baker worked on and off in Duke Ellington's Orchestra from 1942 to 1962. He also worked with Johnny Hodges's group in the early 1950s, during the period when Hodges was not a member of Ellington's orchestra. He died of throat cancer in New York at the age of 52.Owsley, D. (2006). ''City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973''. United States: Reedy Press, p. 57 Discography As leader/co-leader *1958.09 - ''The Broadway Beat'' (King, 1959) *1960.05 ''- The Bud Freeman All-Stars featuring Shorty Baker' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cat Anderson
William Alonzo "Cat" Anderson (September 12, 1916 – April 29, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter known for his long period as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra and for his wide range, especially his ability to play in the altissimo register. Biography Early life Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Anderson lost both parents when he was four years old, and was sent to live at the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, where he learned to play trumpet. Classmates gave him the nickname "Cat" (which he used all his life) based on his fighting style. Career He toured and made his first recording with the Carolina Cotton Pickers, a small group based at the orphanage. After leaving the Cotton Pickers, Anderson played with guitarist Hartley Toots, Claude Hopkins' big band, Doc Wheeler's Sunset Orchestra (1938–1942), with whom he also recorded, Lucky Millinder, the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, Sabby Lewis's Orchestra, and Lionel Hampton, with whom he recorded the classic "Fl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Burke (lyricist)
John Francis Burke (October 3, 1908 – February 25, 1964) was an American lyricist, successful and prolific between the 1920s and 1950s. His work is considered part of the Great American Songbook. His song " Swinging on a Star", from the Bing Crosby film '' Going My Way'', won an Academy Award for Best Song in 1944. Early life Burke was born in Antioch, California, United States, the son of Mary Agnes (Mungovan), a schoolteacher, and William Earl Burke, a structural engineer. When he was still young, his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Burke's father founded a construction business. As a youth, Burke studied piano and drama. He attended Crane College and then the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he played piano in the orchestra. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1927, Burke joined the Chicago office of the Irving Berlin Publishing Company in 1926 as a pianist and song salesman. He also played piano in dance bands and vaudeville ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juan Tizol
Juan Tizol Martínez (22 January 1900 – 23 April 1984) was a Puerto Rican jazz trombonist and composer. He is best known as a member of Duke Ellington's big band, and for writing the jazz standards " Caravan", "Pyramid", and " Perdido". Biography Tizol was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he played throughout his career. His musical training came mostly from his uncle Manuel Tizol, the director of the municipal band and symphony in San Juan. In his youth, Tizol played in his uncle's band and also gained experience by playing in local operas, ballets, and dance bands. In 1920, he joined a band that was traveling to the United States to work in Washington, D.C. The group made it to Washington as stowaways and established residence at the Howard Theater, where it played for touring shows and silent films. At Howard, it was hired to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie DeLange
Eddie DeLange (''né'' Edgar DeLange Moss; 15 January 1904 – 15 July 1949) was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman. Biography DeLange was born in Long Island City, Queens, New York. His father was the playwright and actor Louis De Lange, and his mother was the actress Selma Mantell. His father tragically died when he was two years old, being found dead in a hotel room with his throat slit in what was possibly a murder or a suicide. His uncle Alexander De Lange, was a comedian who performed under the name Alexander Clark. DeLange graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1926. He became a stunt man in twenty-four comedies produced by Universal Studios, often for Reginald Denny. DeLange went back to New York City in 1932, earning a contract with Irving Mills. He had several hits in his first year, including " Moo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
(In My) Solitude
"(In My) Solitude" is a 1934 composition by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Eddie DeLange and Irving Mills. It is considered a jazz standard and has been recorded numerous times by artists such as Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Ellington reportedly composed it in a recording studio in 20 minutes, as his orchestra had arrived with only three pieces to record and required another. It is in D major and follows an AABA form (although "the IV chord in measure 3 is replaced by a II7 the second time"). According to Ellington, the title was suggested by trumpeter Arthur Whetsel. Reception and analysis An AllMusic writer describes the composition as "at once optimistic in its tone but somber in its pace, conflicted with the emotions of bitter loneliness and fond remembrance". The mood of the song is set "in the very first phrase of the melody, with its ascent to the leading tone of the scale falling just short of the tonic, and in the seemingly unremarkable chord progressions that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitchell Parish
Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen. Biography Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 1900. His family emigrated to the United States, arriving on February 3, 1901 aboard the when he was less than a year old. They settled first in Louisiana where his paternal grandmother had relatives, but later moved to New York City, where he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and received his education in the public schools. He attended Columbia University and N.Y.U. and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He eventually abandoned the notion of practicing law to become a songwriter. He served his apprenticeship as a writer of special material for vaudeville acts, and later established himself as a writer of songs for stage, screen and numerous musical revues. By the late 1920s, Parish was a well-regarded Tin Pan Alley lyricist in New ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
